The Khalsa’s birthday, the harvest
Vaisakhi 2027
The Sikh new year and the founding of the Khalsa in 1699, and Punjab’s harvest festival: nagar kirtan processions, langar on the street and the largest Sikh gatherings of the year, from Southall to Surrey.
- Vaisakhi 2026
- Tuesday, 14 April 2026
- Vaisakhi 2027
- Wednesday, 14 April 2027
- No Vaisakhi events posted in Australia yet — the page has the big celebrations and their dates.
Vaisakhi events near you
What Vaisakhi is
Vaisakhi (Baisakhi) falls on the first day of the solar month of Vaisakh — 13 or 14 April — the day in 1699 on which Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib. It is the Sikh new year, the harvest festival of Punjab, and for Hindus the solar new year kept the same day as Vishu in Kerala, Puthandu in Tamil Nadu and Pohela Boishakh in Bengal.
Abroad it is the biggest day on the Sikh calendar: a nagar kirtan — a procession behind the Guru Granth Sahib, with the Panj Pyare, gatka displays and langar served from every doorway along the route — in every city with a gurdwara. Surrey’s, in British Columbia, is the largest outside India with hundreds of thousands; Vancouver, Toronto and Brampton, Southall, Birmingham, Melbourne and Sydney follow, usually on the weekend nearest the day.
Vaisakhi in Australia
Melbourne’s nagar kirtans run through Craigieburn and Blackburn, Sydney’s through Glenwood and Parklea, and Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide hold their own; the gurdwaras keep an Akhand Path in the days before.
Vaisakhi in Canada
Surrey’s Vaisakhi parade is the largest outside India; Vancouver’s Khalsa Diwan Society parade follows a week apart, and Toronto’s Khalsa Day parade (from the CNE grounds to Nathan Phillips Square), Brampton’s, Calgary’s and Edmonton’s all fall in April or early May.
Vaisakhi in the UK
Southall’s nagar kirtan from the Havelock Road gurdwara, Birmingham’s through Handsworth and Smethwick, and processions in Leicester, Slough, Gravesend, Leeds and Glasgow — on the Sunday nearest 14 April, with the gurdwaras open all day and langar on the pavements.
Vaisakhi in the US
New York’s Sikh Day Parade on Madison Avenue, San Francisco’s and San Jose’s in the Bay Area, and the nagar kirtans in Washington, Houston and Seattle, through April and May.
If it is your first one abroad
- Cover your head and remove your shoes in the gurdwara; at the nagar kirtan a scarf is enough, and everyone eats the langar.
- The processions close main roads for the afternoon — go by train or bus.
Vaisakhi is better with people near you
Free, in every country. Everything below is ranked by how far it is from you.
- Groups near youJoin the Indian community groups in your city — chat, plans and people who get it.
- Events near youEvery festival, garba night and meetup, ranked by distance, with RSVP and reminders.
- Buy and sellSarees, kurtas, furniture, kitchen things — from people a few streets away.
- Rent near youRooms and flats from the community, with the person behind the listing one tap away.
Questions people ask
- When is Vaisakhi in 2027?
- Wednesday 14 April 2027; in 2026 it was Tuesday 14 April. The nagar kirtans are held on the weekends around it — Surrey’s usually the Saturday after.
- Where is the biggest Vaisakhi parade outside India?
- Surrey, British Columbia: its nagar kirtan each April draws several hundred thousand people. Southall in London and Birmingham are Britain’s largest; Melbourne’s and Sydney’s are Australia’s.
Other festivals
Organising something?
Post it from the app under Events, wherever you are. It is free, a moderator checks it, and it appears here and to every member nearby. Running several a year? Email hello@namaste.community for a listing invite.